an introduction to software defined radio · an introduction to software defined radio. ......

An Introduction to

Software Defined Radio

What is an SDR?

www.sdrplay.com

• A radio communication system where many components that have been traditionally implemented in hardware…

(e.g. mixers, filters, amplifiers, modulators/demodulators, detectors, etc.)

…are implemented by software on a PC or embedded system.

• The hardware portion consists of pre-selection filters, possibly some IF filtering and a Analog-to-digital converter

Simplified SDR Block Diagram

RFfront end

ADC USBAntenna

Hardware, e.g. RSP

Softwaree.g. PC or embedded system

Display Audio Measure Control Decode

DemodulateFilterWaterfall RF Spectrum

RSP1A

MiniPC

Example implementation

Why do I want one?

Top Ten List

1. True general coverage

2. Work one frequency and still monitor the band (or another band!)

• Panadapter (suddenly your eyes can do 1000X what only your ears could do previously, one signal at a time!)

3. Filters! (brick-wall envelopes… improving all the time with s/w upgrades)

4. Audio and IF Digital Signal Processing (DSP)

5. Harness the power of your existing Computer

6. Multiple VFOs and/or virtual receivers

7. Record large bandwidths of the spectrum and tune later!

8. Record/playback of audio from a specific signal

9. Allows you to explore new applications:• Digital modes, WX satellites, radio astronomy, aircraft monitoring, digital stations, TV,DAB, Ionosondes! etc etc

10. Can you ever have too many receivers?

www.sdrplay.com

Application Examples

www.sdrplay.com

Digital Decoding Fldigi NBEMS (Narrow Band Emergency Messaging System)

Credit: Jeff Kopcak, k8jtk

Fldigi: http://www.w1hkj.com

Credit: Erik Mikkel Wied

…and WEFAX Decoding

Also supports DSD, DSD+, MultiPSK, DM780 and more via VAC and CAT control

www.sdrplay.com

ADS-B decoding exampleusing Dump1090 and VRS

Credit: Max Santos, AC5PY

Satellite working

www.sdrplay.com

www.sdrplay.com

NOAA Weather satellite (137 MHz) -Wxtoimg (RSP1)

Credit: Jeff Broughton, WB8RJY

Credit: Sefi Merkel

User pictures from the facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/sdrplay/

Wxtoimg:http://www.wxtoimg.com

www.sdrplay.com

High Resolution satellite images (1.7GHz)RSP2 ..including latest GOES-16

SDRplay forum on Sat imaging

www.sdrplay.com

Tune in to Jupiter!

www.sdrplay.com

www.sdrplay.com

Doubles as a new piece of RF lab kit:an RF Power meter – get one for work or play!

Within 1dB accuracy!

SDR hardware

SDR Variety

www.sdrplay.com

Per

form

ance

Price

8-bitDongles

High End

GeneralPurpose

• $10 – 100• Low performance• Introductory

• $100 – 200• Good performance• Wide Coverage• RSP, Airspy etc

• $500 – 1000s• High performance• Specialized functionality• RF Space, Flex, ELAD etc

Review of SDR receivers – what to consider:

• Frequency Range: The range of frequencies the SDR can tune.

• ADC Resolution: Higher is better. More resolution means more dynamic range, less signal imaging, a lower noise floor, more sensitivity when strong signals are present and better ability to discern weak signals.

• Instantaneous Bandwidth: The size of the real time RF chunk available.

• RX/TX: Can the radio receive and/or transmit?

• Preselectors: Analogue filters on the front end to help reduce out of band interference and imaging.

• Software: Is your favourite package supported? Does manufacturer provide?

• Price

www.sdrplay.com

www.sdrplay.com

• Continuous SDR receiver coverage from VLF to 2 GHz

• All the amateur radio bands from VLF to 23cm

• High performance ADC technology (not another compromise SDR!)

• Built-in high performance front-end filters

• Use as a stand-alone general coverage receiver, or as a high resolution panadapter

• Visualize all the signals in multiple bands simultaneously

• SDRuno Windows SDR software provided free-of-charge

• Also works with other platforms (Mac, Linus etc) and popular SDR Software (e.g. HDSDR, SDR-Console & Cubic SDR)

• Run on a Raspberry Pi3 – download our SD Card image

• Ideal for portable operation (powered via USB)

• Can be used as a Spectrum Analyzer or an RF Power Meter

• Backed by the world’s biggest and best SDR support community!

SDRplay Receivers – RSP Family

10 MHz visibility

www.sdrplay.com

1kHz 2GHz

Instantaneous bandwidth illustration

RSP1 RSP2 RSP2pro RSP1a

Introducing the RSPduo- Dual independent tuners!

www.sdrplay.com

1kHz 2GHz

Two independent “slices” anywhere in the coverage range

“…the biggest change to SDR since the RSP1!”

Monitor two widely spaced bands

www.sdrplay.com

Mix and match applications, simultaneously

www.sdrplay.com

ADSBATC

Software

Software

• SDRplay offers Multi-platform support for Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, Raspberry Pi 2/3 via 3rd party software including:

• In addition SDRplay owns and develops our own software, SDRuno(Windows only) for the RSP family:

• Based on Studio1 which cost $179

• Software upgradeable for future standards

• API provided to allow demodulator or application development

• All the above software packages are available free of charge!

www.sdrplay.com

SDRConsole HDSDR Cubic SDR

Multiple VFOs & different decode modes simultaneously!

www.sdrplay.com

Ham Band Framing + RF power level + SNR measurement & logging

www.sdrplay.com

SDRuno 1.3 – Scanning and IQ out!

Preset or user-defined scan ranges

Scan to or from Memory Banks

Lock out unwanted freqs

SAS Spectrum Analyser – Make your RSP into a Spectrum Analyser!

www.sdrplay.com

Panadapters

What is a Panadapter?

www.sdrplay.com

• “Panadapter is short for Panoramic Adapter. The simple answer is that it allows us to see a panoramic display of the band our radio is tuned to. We can see every signal”*.

• Early implementations used a PC soundcard to achieve this function but were therefore limited to 200 kHz of bandwidth because they rely on the sound card.

• The advent of affordable SDR hardware such as the RSP1A has allowed implementations with much greater bandwidth, and hence much more usefulness.

• Combined with readily available, and capable, SDR software Panadapters are now an affordable and easy to implement reality!

* Definition courtesy KA9MOT http://mypanadapter.com/

“Go-to” choice for Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, Elecraft etc!

Why panadapter?

• Add new capabilities / visibility to any rig

• Synchronize the the rig to the software if it has a CAT port

• Work one frequency while monitoring the whole band

• Monitor multiple bands in addition to the one you’re working

• Arbitrarily large spectrum scope

• Less cost, more features than factory add-ons,

Monitoring 3 bands with SDRuno

The perfect Panadapter companion for your rig

www.sdrplay.com

• Any of the SDR Software programs that support RSP can be used to provide a basic spectrum display.

• SDRuno, HDSDR, SDR Console and CubicSDR have built-in capabilities for CAT and other add-on software, to allow for communication between the SDR software and the transceiver.

• OmniRig is commonly used for synchronization/control between the TRx and SDR Rx, but other control software, e.g. HRD, DXlabetc. can be incorporated using SDRuno’s CAT capability

• App notes and videos available from sdrplay.com

Use a T/R switch if not using protected transceiver IF or RF out!

www.sdrplay.com

RSP

ANT

T/R Switch(MFJ-1708B-SDRS)

• RSP protected by T/R

• T/R shares signal

• Widest RX bandwidth

• Always connect PTT!Splitter

RSP

ANTRX OUT

RX IN

• RSP protected by rig’s internal T/R

• Splitter if required (e.g. Yaesu)

• RX BW limited by IF

Support and further information

Software and documentation – Software Downloads

www.sdrplay.com

Software and documentation – Applications and Support Catalog

www.sdrplay.com

How-to videos: SDRplay YouTube Channel

www.sdrplay.comwww.youtube.com/c/SDRplayRSP

Facebook Groups

www.sdrplay.com

Nearly 10,000 users helping each other!

Direct support from SDRplay

www.sdrplay.com

Hardware + Software + Community =

www.sdrplay.com

For more information

• Company website: www.sdrplay.com• Check out our new Applications & Support Catalog at:

https://www.sdrplay.com/apps-catalogue/

• Community Forums: www.sdrplay.com/community/

• Email: • North America: support-usa@sdrplay.com• Rest of World: support@sdrplay.com

• Facebook: SDRplay and SDRuno specifically• Independent groups run by enthusiastic users!

• Google / YouTube• Many videos covering how to use the various software packages,

implementing panadapters and much more. Use the Google search function!• SDRplay channel: www.youtube.com/c/SDRplayRSP

www.sdrplay.com